Recently it has been reported that there are over 1,600 varieties of frozen desserts which account for $1.6 billon in sales. U.S. food companies continue to search for different frozen products in response to the apparently insatiable consumer appetite for such products. (TIME, June 29, 1987, p. 47).
It is well recognized that consumers are concerned about the content of food products, especially those consumed by children. In the past, the so-called "ice pops", containing primarily artificial ingredients have been a popular source of refreshment. More recently, however, consumers have demanded and U.S. companies have responded with "ice pops" containing real fruit and/or fruit juice marketed under such names as Frozfruit and Fruit 'N Juice.
All real fruit juice containing frozen products are shipped to retail outlets in frozen form and must stored in freezers. The cost of storing frozen products and the space available for storage has caused problems for the retailer and the consumer as evidenced by the relatively high cost of such products.
Applicant has discovered a real fruit juice containing composition and method of preparing the same which permits the product to be shipped to and stored in a retail store as a liquid and then frozen at home by the consumer. As a result, the product of the present invention is less costly to produce because it may be stored in the non-frozen section of the supermarket.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a liquid shelf-stable freezable fruit juice containing composition.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a dessert product which can be stored for long periods of time at room temperature and then frozen when desired by the consumer.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a method of producing a packaged liquid shelf-stable freezable fruit juice containing food product.